1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a personal watercraft carrier. In one of its aspects, the invention relates to a personal watercraft carrier with large-surface wheels which has neutral or negative buoyancy. In another of its aspects, the invention relates to a personal watercraft carrier having an expandable capacity to support large or multiple watercraft.
2. Description of the Related Art
Personal watercraft carriers have been used for transporting a personal watercraft such as jet skis, wave runners and the like, over sand and for transferring the watercraft from the carrier into and out of a body of water. Some of the known carriers have rollers, soft balloon tires or skids that support the weight of the watercraft and carrier during travel over soft terrain. These carriers are generally buoyant and float when in the water. The buoyancy makes it difficult to position the carrier under the watercraft when it is desirable to remove the watercraft from the water and may also make it somewhat difficult to remove the watercraft from the carrier when the carrier and watercraft are placed in the water.
Some carriers are constructed to carry only one personal watercraft at a time. This requires additional time and effort to transfer multiple watercraft into and out of a body of water.
According to the invention, a personal watercraft carrier has a carrier frame, the carrier frame having rail supports for watercraft, a tongue for pushing or pulling the carrier, and one or more axles mounting wheels for rolling movement of the carrier frame over a surface. The wheels have an relatively wide outer surface so that the carrier with a watercraft mounted thereon is easily rolled over soft surfaces, such as sand, for depositing the watercraft in the water. The wheels are constructed so that the carrier as a whole has neutral or negative buoyancy, whereby when the carrier with watercraft is rolled into the water for launching the watercraft, the carrier drops away from the watercraft as the depth of the water increases. The carrier can further be rolled into the water to be positioned under the watercraft for removing the watercraft from the water. Preferably, the wheels of the carrier are constructed of a heavy-duty plastic or a metal, and the outer surface is formed by a cylindrical rim having a high width to diameter ratio. The wheels further include a hub and a plurality of spokes, or a central disk, extending radially inwardly from the cylindrical rim to the hub or center of the wheel. The wheels are open so that water freely flows into them.
The personal watercraft carrier according to the invention further includes a carrier frame having rail supports for watercraft, wherein the rail supports are extendible by the user for carrying a longer watercraft, or multiple watercraft, on the carrier. The rail supports comprise an extendible rail system including segmented pieces removably connectable in series, the segmented pieces including a foot for removably mounting to the carrier frame, an upwardly projecting portion fixed to the foot, and a top portion extending from an upper edge of the upwardly projecting portion within 45 degrees of a generally horizontal orientation. The segmented pieces include a leading edge and a trailing edge, the leading edge of each segmented piece adapted to be received in alignment with the trailing edge of a preceding segment piece. One of the leading edge and the trailing edge includes a tongue and the other of the leading edge and the trailing edge includes a groove for receiving the tongue.
The personal watercraft carrier according to the invention further includes a motorized pull-assist mechanism comprising a longitudinal frame, a cross member, and a rotative force generator, the cross member mounting the force generator and including an axle for rotatively mounting wheels for movement of the pull-assist mechanism, and a linkage for transferring force from the generator to the wheels